What a Pandemic is like for a 13 – year old

It was nothing but normal for anyone to enjoy a sunny day, to hang out with friends, run
around, and feeling the sunrays on your skin.

Ghala Al-Otaibi

Feeling the sand in between your toes, to go to
school, write your notes down, to have a pop quiz, or to prepare for an up-coming test. Suddenly,
all of it slips away from you. Realizing that we took all of those precious moments for granted.
Now, people all around the world are panicking, feeling threatened by something they can’t even
see. Some of the best doctors and scientists in the world couldn’t find an answer, and were quite
puzzled and frightened as well. None of us are brave enough to get out of our prison cells or
“homes”.
Once, being able to breathe nature’s air freely and comfortably. Suddenly, wearing a mask
is protection from the air we were once breathing without worrying, or feeling paranoid. It’s like
the whole world was diagnosed with a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, when it
comes to sanitizing items. Because not sanitizing anything from the world outside home has
become a risk, a life threatening one that can’t be cured because there is no cure found for it.

How? A question that shook the Earth. Left unanswered, struggling to find an answer or
“the” answer. Half of Earth’s population has been brushed off like dust. It was something that
sounded like it was going to be “ok”, in the beginning. Because it was in one city, at first. Then, it
rapidly grew to the whole country suffering, China. In the blink of an eye, it’s global. It is now a
global pandemic, should I blame China?
My 2-year-old brother doesn’t know what it’s like to play in the playground on a sunny
day! He doesn’t know what grass feels like! He just doesn’t know! I’m not going to blame China.
I’ve chosen not to, I blame humanity, because a person’s choice will always have an impact on
society, it’ll always have consequences. That’s why, we should all think twice before doing
anything. Since, what you do will always affect your surroundings, whether it’s in a good way or
a bad way. Doing something you’re not sure about, because it’s something new to you, or is
unfamiliar to what you’re used to, could lead to horrific or global consequences.
Yet, there is a bright side to every situation, even this one. My family’s been doing things
I didn’t think they could or ever would do. We had a 60’s themed coffee party! Now, that’s
something you don’t see every day! It was just the six of us. Another thing I didn’t know was that,
my dad is a lot more fun than how he seems to be. When there’s a song in a scene of a movie
we’re watching, he gets this vibe that comes out of nowhere, and just starts dancing to the song!
My mom on the other hand, starts lip syncing to the song, even if she doesn’t know the lyrics to
it. There’s also this phrase my mom says when she explains something and couldn’t explain any
further, “stuff like that”, she says that a lot! And apparently, my sister is a great dancer I had
absolutely no idea about. My 8-year-old brother is very serious about gaming, and has an amazing
way of thinking! He told me that he wanted to become a famous soccer player, one day, it’s his
ambition! My 2-year-old brother has a unique, but very smart way of grabbing my attention. He
runs up to me out of the blue, with his hands out, yelling my name in the cutest way ever! That
being said, it is only sane for me to grab him and start squeezing him! As for me, I’ve found the
window of discovering new languages and culture wide open, thanks to this pandemic. I’ve come
to find that I am very interested in Japanese and Korean language and culture.
I guess it’s true that every situation has a bright side. I’m glad I got to make so many
precious memories with my family. I hope everyone around me has too. I’m sure one day, the
world will be cured, but that’s all up to us. We need to be more aware of our actions and how
they can affect our surroundings, because everyone adds something to society. I can’t change
the world alone, but I hope we all take responsibility for our actions, to accomplish that together.
We’re all in this together with the help of God! He’s our only true help and without him we won’t
be able to accomplish anything!